van berkel



c; F. M.. VAN BERKEL.

SLICING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY I2, 19I7.

Patented July 20, 1920.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1.

ifna-rs/ 77? 2/67 for, (orrzeiz'sI/Zvan Berkel C. F. M. VAN BERKEL.

SLICING MACHINE.

APPLECATION'FILED JULY 12, 1911.

Patented July 20, 1920.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Patented July 20, 1920 C. F. M. VAN BERKE L. SLICINGMACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12, 1917.

e3 ifi 1201 IUNITEDSTATES FATLENT OFFICE.

CORNELIS F. M. VAN BERKEL, OF LAPOBTE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO U. S.SLICING MACHINE COMPANY, OF LAPORTE, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

strains ILACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 20, 1920.

Application filed July 12, 1917. Serial No. 180,051.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CORNELIS F. M. VAN Bnnnnn, a subject of the Queen ofthe Netherlands, and a resident of Laporte, in the county of Laporte andState of Indiana, have invented. certain new and useful improvements inSlicing-lllachines, of which the iollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for slicing meat and other material,and has for its object the provision of a device of the class namedwhich shall be of improved construction and more efficient andconvenient in o aeration than similar devices previously known.

The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of partsshown in the accompanying drawings and described in the followingspecification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

in the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a slicing machineembodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view substantially on line 22 ofFig. 1. r

Fig. 3 is a detail section on line 33 of 2 showing a ratchet device usedin connection with the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a detail sectional view on line 1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a modified form of theinvention; and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view on line (SG of Fig. 5.

7 to,11,'inclusive, are various modiheat-ions of one detail of thepresent invention. Y

Referring more particularly to the figures of the drawings, the numeral20 designates the base or main framework of a slicing machine of theusual construction which has a slicing blade 21 supported thereon and ahand-wheel 22 by means of which the blade is rotated through shafts andgearing in a well known manner. A reciprocatory table is mounted toslice on ways 24: supported from the frame 20 by uprights 25. The tableis caused to reciprocate on the ways 21 by a crank arm 26 and a pitman27. The crank arm 23 is carried on an upright shaft 28 provided with abeveled gear 29 at its lower end which meshes with a pinion 80 securedto the end of a main drive shaft 31 G5 7 to which the handwvheel 22 isattached.

The table 23 carries a meat plate 32 arranged to slide upon the uppersurface of the table in a direction transverse to the direction ofmovement of the table on the ways 24. The meat plate 32 is provided withthe usual form of clamp 33 for holding the meat or other substancefirmly on the plate. Projecting downwardly from the lower surface of thetable 23, as shown in Fig. 2, is a pivot pins ll and 42 respectively.The half nut 38 is rigid with its pin &1, and the pin is extended, asshown in Fig. 1, to the edge of the plate 32 nearest the operator and isprovided with a crank 13 by means of which the nut 38 may be rotated tomove it into and out of engagement with the threads 37. The nuts 38 and39 are orovided with extensions 414: and 45 respectively arranged tooverlap one another so that whenever the rod 41 is rotated to disengagethe nut 38, the nut 39 will also be disengaged from the threads. Duringa slicing operation the shaft 36 is rotated to feed the meat plate overthe table 23 by a ratchet mechanism which may be of the usualconstruction, one form being shown in Figs. 2 and 3. 1n the form shown aratchet wheel 16 is secured to the end of the shaft 36, and adjacent theinner side of the ratchet wheel and loosely mounted on the shaft 36 is asleeve a? which carries an arm 18 on the end of which is pivotallymounted a pawl 49 in position to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel Astop 50 may be provic ed on the bearing 34 to limit the movement of thesleeve 17 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1. A second arm 51is secured to the sleeve 17 and carries a roller 52 arranged to strike astop 53 adjustably mounted on an upright 54 secured to the frame 20 ofthe machine. approaches its extreme position at the end of the ways 24.adjacent the operator, the roller 52 will strike the stop 53 and shiftthe Connection is made between the 70 As the table 23 with the ratchetby a spring 5.

collar 47 together with the arm a8 and pawl 49 in a counter-clockwisedirection, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3 and thus rotate the ratchet wheel46 and the shaft 36 in a direction to feed the meat plate 32 toward theknife 21. The thickness of the slice will depend upon the amount themeat plate is fed at each reciprocation of the table, and this amountmay be adjusted by shifting the stop 53 on its support 5%. A second stop55 is positioned at the opposite extremity of the path of movement ofthe roller 52 to insure return movement of the pawl 49 over the ratchetteeth 46 to position the pawl for a feedin operation.

The shaft 36 carries a sleeve 56 loosely mounted thereon adjacent theouter face of the ratchet 46, but held in spaced relation A circular camdisk 58 is formed on the end of the sleeve 56 adjacent the ratchet wheeland the periphery of the cam is provided with a beveled portion 59arranged to engage a lug 60 carried by the pawl 19 when the disk 58 isforced to the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, against the tension of thespring 57. This movement of the disk will lift the pawl -19 out ofengagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel i6. The sleeve 56 alsocarries a sprocket wheel 61 over which a chain 62 passes, the oppositeend of which chain engages a sprocket wheel 63 carried on a shaft 64spaced from the shaft 36 by means of. a link 65 and journaled in abearing 66 at the end of the link. The end of the sleeve 56 opposite thedisk 58 is provided with ratchet teeth, 67 which mesh with similar teeth68 formed on the face of a collar 69 secured to the shaft 36 by means ofa pin 70. A second link 71 is journaled on the shaft 6% on the side ofthe sprocket wheel 63 opposite the link 65, and a second sprocket wheel72 is connected to the shaft 64; at the end of the shaft opposite thebearing 66. i1 sprocket chain 73 passes over the sprocket wheel 72 andengages with another sprocket wheel 75 secured to a shaft 76 journaledin a bearing 77 formed on the frame 20 of the machine. The end of thelink'71 opposite the shaft 6i is also journaled on the shaft '7 6. Abeveled pinion 78 is secured to the end of the shaft 76 in position tomesh with a beveled gear 79 formed on the lower surface of the gear 29carried by the shaft 28. The pinion T8 is free to rotate about the shaft76, but carries a housing 80 which incloses a one-way ratchet mechanism81 which may be of any well known construction, one form being shown incrosssection in Fig. at. This mechanism provides a free wheel or onewaydrive connection between the main drive shaft 31 and the shaft 7 6. Itwill be readily understood from Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings that thelinks 65 and T1 together with the sprocket chains 62 and 7 3 associatedwith the links constitute a floating drive connection between the shafts76 and 36 which will permit of the transmis' sion of motion to the shaft36 from the main drive shaft 31 independently of the position of thetable 23 in the ways 2-l. This drive connection will be inoperativehowever to transmit rotation to the shaft 36 when the main shaft 31 isturned to the right, as viewed in Fig. 2, which is the usual directionof rotation for a slicing operation. If, however the hand wheel 22 andthe shaft 31 are given a reverse rotation, this rotation will betransmitted through the chains 73 and Y62 to the sleeve 56. This willcause the beveled portions of the ratchet'teeth 67 to slide upon thecorresponding portions of the teeth 68 on the collar 69,- and in thisway the sleeve 56 will be slid longitudinally on the shaft 36compressingthe spring 57 and forcing the disk 58 beneath the lug 60 onthe pawl 49. in this way the pawl will be forced out of engagement withthe ratchet 16, thus freeing the shaft 36 for movement in areversedirection and continued reverse rotation of the shaft 31 will im)art a similar rotation to the shaft 36 and thus feed the meat plate 32rapidly across the surface of the reciprocating table 23 to'itsretracted position. During the reverse operation motion is imparted tothe shaft 36 from the sleeve 56 by means of the ratchet teeth 6? and 68which are of a sufiicient length that they continue to engage oneanother after the sleeve 56 has slid to its extreme position to theleft, as viewed in Fig. 2. V

The arrangement of the half nuts 33 and 39 is an important featurecontributing to the success of the operation of the return mechanismjust described. As the meat plate 32 is fed forwardly by the ratchetfeed it will gradually approach the knife 21 and there must be anautomatic arrangement for checking the feed of the meat plate be forethe plate reaches a position to strike the knife. As shown in Fig.2,this is accomplished by discontinuing the threads 37 on the end of theshaft 36 leaving a blank space 85 on the end of the shaft adj acent thebearing lug As the forward movement of the meat plate continues the halfnut 38 will leave the threads 37 and enter this blank space; at the sametime the bearing plates d0 will strike the bracket 35 and thuspositively stop the forward move ment of the meat plate. The half nut 39will still be in mesh with the threads 37, but it will be noted fromFig. 2 of the drawings that the pressure of the threads on the teeth ofthe nut 39 tends to rotate the nut in a clockwise direction about thepin l2 and thus force the nut out of engagement with the threads.Sufficient clearance is provided between the threads and the teeth ofthe half nut to permit such disengagement, and the bearing surface ofthe threads and teeth I may be slightlyinclined if itis found necessaryto facilitate this operation of the half nut. As soon as the rotation ofthe shaft 36 is reversed the pressure on the teeth of the nut will nolonger force the nut out of engagement, but will tend on the contrary todraw it in, so that as soon as the direction of rotation of thehand-wheel is reversed, the nut 39 will automatically engage thethreads37 to feed the meat plate in its backward movement. If only asingle nut were provided, reverse movement of the shaft would not besufficient to start the meat plate in its reversedirection since therewould be nothing to cause the nut toreengage the threads after it hadonce passed into the blank space 85.

It will be seen that the half nuts 38 and 39 will perform a similaroperation when the extreme reverse position of the meat plate has beenreached, but in this position the half nut 39 will be fed into the blankspace while the half nut 38 will be forced out of engagementwith thethreads because of the position of its pivot. V

A number of other forms ofengaging mechanism between the feed screw 36and the meat plate may be employed for securing a similar result. InFig. 7 a fixed half nut 86 is employed in conjunction with a movablehalf nut 87 arranged to slide in an inclined opening 88 formed in theconnecting plate A0. A spring 89 normally forces the nut 87 intoengagement with the threads of the screw 36. When the meat plate reachesits extreme forward position the nut 86 will enter the blank space atthe end of the threads, while the nut 87 will be forced upwardly in itsopening 88 out of engagement with the threads, but will automaticallyreturn into position to engage the threads when the'direction of theshaft 36 is reversed. This arrangement it will be seen will operateautomatically at one end of the screw only, but where it is desirable toprovide automatic operation at both ends a pair of inclined half nuts 87may be provided, as shown in Fig. 8.. y

In Fig. 9 a half nut 90 is held in a vertical socket 91 and is presseddownwardly into engagement with the screw 36 by a spring 92. In thisform the blank space 93 atthe end of the shaft is given a diameter equalto the outside diameter of the screw threads 37, and the bottom of thethreads is given a gradual inclination toward the outer periphery of theshaft, as shown at 94. \Vhen the meat plate reaches the end of theshaft, the inclined surface 94 will force the nut 90 upwardly againstthe spring 92 and thus move the nut out of mesh with the threads.Reverse rotation of the shaft 36 will, however, permitthe nut to movedownwardly over the inclined surface 94 into mesh again and thus causereverse movement of the meat plate. Thisarrangement may be made tooperate automatically at both ends of the threads. 1

In the form shown in Fig. 10 a half nut 95 is mounted to slidehorizontally in the direction of the axis of the shaft 36 within asocket 96 on the bottom of the meat plate. A spring 97 normally forcesthe nut 95 to one end of the socket 96, the end of the spring beingarranged to bear against a plunger 98 which slides freely in the opening99 in the half nut. The tension of the spring 97 may be adjustedbyrotating the plunger 98 in its threaded connection with the wall of thesocket. Where this arrangement is used'the rotation of the screw 36first compresses the spring 37 and brings the nut 95 into contact withthe front end of the socket 96, the friction on the meat plate beingsufficient to overcome the force of the comparatively weak spring 97. Assoon as the direction of the rotation of the screw 36 is reversed, thespring 97 causes the nut 95 to reengage the threads and thus move themeat plate backwardly.

In the form of mechanism shown by Fig. 11, a fixed nut 100 maybeutilized to feed the plate forwardly and may be permitted to enter theblank space'85 at the end of the screw when the extremity of themovement of the plate is reached. A supplemental nut 101 is mounted toslide on a rod 102 and is held at one end of the rod by a spring 103.After the extreme position of the meat plate has been reached, thesupplemental nut 101 will be fed along the rod 102 by the threads 37compressing the spring 103 without moving the meat plate. As soon as therotation of the screw 36 is reversed, the spring 103 will force the nut101 to reengage the threads and thus operate to start the returnmovement of the 110 plate.

Fig. 12 shows an arrangement similar to Fig. 11, but in this case thesupplemental nut 104: is mounted on a pivot 105 so that it swingsupwardly out of engage- 115 ment with the threads 37 instead ofcompressing the spring as is done in the form shown in Fig. 11.

In the form shown in Fig. 13 a nut 106 is rigidly connected with themeat plate and is 120 free to slide on a rod 107 having an enlargement108 at one end. The opposite end of the rod 10? is provided with a bentportion 109 which lies opposite the outer face of the cam disk 58.llVhen the nut 106 reaches the extremity of its movement it strikes theenlargement 108 and causes the rod 107 to move in unison with the meatplate, thus drawing the cam disk 58 into engagement with the lug 60 onthe pawl a9 and forcing the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet 46.:This will prevent further rotation of the ratchet and so stop thefeeding movement of the meat plate. The rod 107 may be pressed plug iscarried by the plate in positionto engage a fixed, stop 117 on themachine frame when the nut 115 registers with the blank portion on theshaft 36. The plug 116 continuously urges the nut toward the threads 011the screw so thatthey will immediately mesh with one another when theshaft is reversed. The nut 115 may be made to extend entirely around thescrew as shown,- or it may be permitted to engage only a portion of theperiphery to permit easy disengagement, if desired.

In the form of invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the one-way drive 81 isreplaced by a clutch 110, and a pinion 111 corresponding to the pinion78 in the form already described is placed above instead of below thebeveled gear 29 so that the shaft 7 6 is rotated in the oppositedirection from that in -which it is driven in the form described.

The clutch 110 may be thrown into mesh with the clutch member 112 on thepinion 111. to cause the shaft and pinion to rotate in unison with oneanother by means of a clutch rod 113 and a hand-crank 11 1. In orderthat there =may be sufficient room for the floating drive, the gearwheel 29 is located somewhat lower relative to the main frame 20 in thisform of device than it is in the form previously described. \Vith theexception of the differences mentioned, this form of the device does notdiffer structurally from the other form, but there are some differencesin operation which should be noted. In the form first described, it isnecessary to reverse the direction of rotation of the hand-wheel inorder to rotate the screw 36 in the proper direction to return the'meatplate, but in the present form of the invention when the meat plate hasreached its extreme'forward position, it is only necessary to throw inthe clutch 110 and to continue rotation'of the hand-wheel 22 in the samedirection as formerly in order to produce a rapid return movement of themeat plate. fact that the beveled pinion 111 is placed above instead ofbelow the gear 29 so that the shaft 7 6 is rotated in the properdirection to reverse the movement of the screw 36 whenever the clutch110 is thrown in. The pawl 49 is disengaged from its ratchet during thisoperation thesame as in the form previously described. This is a desir-This is brought about by the,

able arrangemnt where a motor is employed for driving the machinebecause it permits return of the meat plate without stopping the motorand without reversing its direction. This form of the invention alsopermits of a rapid movement of the meat plate forwardly whenit isdesired to position the material on the plate close to the plane of theknife preparatory to beginning a slicing operation. This positioning ofthe meat plate is secured by turning the main shaft in a reversedirection while the clutch 110 is in engagement. It will be understoodthat this will drive the screw 36 in the same direction as it is drivenby the ratchet mechanism, that is, in the feeding direction, but at amuch more rapid speed than can be accomplished by the ratchet device.During this movement the pawl will simply overrun the ratchet and permitthe rapid operation. In case the device is attached to a power machineit is no objection that this positioning is performed by a reversedrotation of the hand-wheel, because such positioning must be performedby hand rotation in any case, and it is, therefore, not necessary todrive the'motor in a reverse direction for this purpose. It will beunderstood that in both forms of the invention it is not necessary topermit the meat plate to reach its extreme forward position before itcan be returned to the starting point, but this may be done from anyintermediate position of the plate if it is found desirable to dose Iclaim 1. In a slicing machine, a main driving device, a reciprocatingtable, a support for material to be sliced movably mounted'on aid table,mechanism for feeding said support relative to said table, meansoperated in timed relation with the reciprocation of said table foroperating said feeding mechanism to feed said support relative to saidtable, and a drive connection between said feeding mechanism and saidmain driving device arranged to operate said feeding mechanismindependently of the reciprocation of said table.

2. In a slicing machine, a reciprocating table, a support for materialto be sliced movably mounted on said table, means for feeding saidsupport relative to said table, means controlled by he reciprocation ofsaid table for operating said feeding means, and

a supplementary means for operating said feeding means to move saidsupport on said table independently of the reciprocatory' moving meansto move said support relative thereto, and supplemental means foractuating said moving means to impart a rapid movement to said supportrelative to said table independent of the reciprocation of said table.

4. In a slicing machine, a table, a support for material to be slicedmovably mounted on said'table, means for feeding said support relativeto said table, and means for automatically disconnecting said supportfrom said feeding means when said support reaches a given position andfor again connecting said support automatically with said feeding meanswhen said feeding means is operated in a reverse direction.

5. In combination with a slicing knife, of a support for material to besliced, and mechanism for feeding said support relative to said knife,said feeding mechanism being arranged to automatically disconnect itselffrom said support when said support reaches the limit of its movementand to automatically reestablish connection with said support when saidfeeding mechanism is operated in a reverse direction. 4

6. In combination with a slicing knife, of a support for feedingmaterial to said knife, a screw for feeding said support relative tosaid knife, and means for engaging said screw for transmitting motiontherefrom to said support arranged to automatically break the drivingconnection between said support and said screw when said support hasreached a given position relative to said screw and to automaticallyreestablish connection between said support and said screw when saidscrew is operated to move said support in a reverse direction.

7. In a slicing machine, mechanism for driving saidmachine,-areciprocating table, a support for material to be slicedmovably mounted on said table, mechanism for imparting a step by stepfeeding movementto said support relative to said table, andsupplementary mechanism operated by the driving mechanism for saidslicing machine for imparting a continuous movement of said support onsaid table.

8. In combination, a slicing machine comprising driving mechanism, areciprocating table, a support movably mounted on said table, meanscontrolled by the reciprocation of said table for imparting a step bystep feeding movement to said support relative to said table, and meansoperable independently of the reciprocation of said table for impartinga continuous movement of said support on said table.

' 9. In combination, with a slicing machine and drivin mechanismtherefor, of a reciprocating table, a support formaterial to be slicedmovably mounted on said table, means controlled by the reciprocation ofsaid table for imparting a step by step feeding movement to said supportrelative to said table, and a direct drive for transmitting movementfrom said main driving mechanism to said support independently of thereciprocation of said table.

10. In combination, a slicing machine having a main drive shaft, areciprocating table, a support for material to be sliced movably mountedon said table, a screw for feeding said support relative to said table,ratchet mechanism controlled by the reciprocation of said table forimparting a step by step movement to said table, and a direct drivingconnection between said main drive shaft and said screw for imparting acontinuous movement to said support relative to said table independentlyof the reciprocation of said table.

11. In a slicing machine, a support for material to be sliced, a screwfor imparting a feeding movement to said support, ratchet mechanism foroperating said screw, and means for breaking the operative connectionbetween said ratchet mechanism and said screw and for rotating saidscrew in a reverse direction through connection with the operatingmechanism of said slicing ma chine.

12. In a slicing machine, a support for material to be sliced, means forfeeding said support to bring the material thereon into position to besliced, mechanism for imparting a step by step movement to said feedingmeans, mechanism for driving said feeding means continuously in areverse direction, and means for automatically disconnecting saidmechanism for impart-ing step by step movement to said feeding meanswhen said feeding means is operated in a reverse direction.

13. I11 a slicing machine, a support for material to be sliced, a screwfor feeding said support to bring the material thereon into position tobe sliced, ratchet mechanism for imparting a step by step movement tosaid screw to feed said support in one direction, means for imparting acontinuous rotation to said screw in a reverse direction, and means forautomatically disconnecting said ratchet mechanism from said screw whensaid screw'isoperated in a reverse direction. I

14. In a slicing machine, a support for material to be sliced, means forimparting a step by step movement to said support, and means includingpower transmission mechanism separate from said step by step impartingmeans and operable at the will of the operator for imparting acontinuous movement to said support. I

15. In combination, a slicing machine having a main driving device, areciprocatory table, a support movably mounted on said table, means forimparting a step by step movement to said support relative to saidtable, and means including power transmission mechanism separate fromsaid step by step imparting means and operable at the will of theoperator for transmitting a continuous movement from said main drivingdevice to said support.

16. In combination, a slicing machine hav .ing a main driving device, areci n'ocatory table, a support mounted for movement on said table, ascrew for imparting movement to said support relative to said table,means for transmitting movement from said screw to said support andarranged to automatically disconnect said screw and said support fromone another when said support has reached a limiting position, ratchetmechanism for imparting intermittent movement to said screw, drivingmeans for connecting said screw with the main drive of .aid slicingmachine and arranged to transmit a reverse movement to said screw fromsaid main driving means, means for antomatically. disconnecting saidratchet mechanism from said screw during said reverse movement, andmeans for automatically reconnecting said ratchet mechanism with saidscrew after said reverse movement.

17. The combination with a threaded member, of a cooperating membermoved thereby and arranged to become operatively disengaged from saidthreaded member to limit the relative movement of said members and tobecome operatively re'elngaged with said threaded member when thedirection of movement of said threaded member is reversed.

18. The combination with a horizontally arranged threaded member, of atoothed piece for engaging said member and arranged to be moved therebyout of engagement with said threads, and means for cansing said toothedpiece to reengage said threads when the direction of rotation of saidmember is reversed.

19. The combination with a screw, of a member driven thereby, and atoothed piece arranged to engage said screw, said toothed piece beingconnected with said driven memher in such a manner that the forceexerted by said screw, when said screw is rotated in one direction,tends to move said toothed piece out of engagement with said screw butwhen said screw is rotated in the opposite direction the force exertedtends to move said piece into firmer engagement.

20. The combination with a screw, of a member having a limited path ofmovement arranged to be driven by said screw, and mechanism forconnecting said member with said screw, said mechanism comprising meansfor automatically disconnecting said member-from said screw when thelimit of movement of said member is reached and for automaticallyreengaging said member with said screw when the direction of rota tionof said screw is reversed.

21. In combination, power transmission mechanism, a cooperating memberarranged to be moved thereby, means for producing a break in said powertransmission mechanism when said cooperating member reaches apredetermined position, and means for causing reverse movement of saidcooperating member when said power transmission mechanism is operated ina reverse direction.

22. In a slicing machine, a reciprocating table, a support for materialto be sliced mounted on said table, means for feeding said supportrelative to said table to bring the material thereon into position to besliced, mechanism for imparting a stepby step movement to said'feedingmeans, mechanism for driving said feeding means continuously in areverse direction, and means for automatically disconnecting saidmechanism for imparting step by step movement to said feeding means whensaid feeding means is operated in a reverse direction.

23. In combination, a slicing machine having a main driving device, areciprocating table, a support mounted for movement on said table, ascrew for imparting move ment to said support relative to said table,means for transmitting movement from said screw tosaid support andarranged to automatically disconnect said screw and said support fromone. another when said support has reached a limiting position. meansfor automatically reengaging said screw and support when said screw isoperated in a. reverse direction, ratchet mechanism for impartingintermittent movement to said screw, driving means for connecting saidscrew with the main drive of said slicing machine and arranged totransmit a reverse movement to said screw from said main driving means.means for automatically disconnecting said ratchet mechanism from saidscrew during said reverse movement, and means for automaticallyreconnecting said ratchet mechanism with said screw after said reversemovement.

24;. In a slicing machine, a reciprocating table, mechanism mounted onsaid table for feeding material thereon relative thereto, and flexiblepower transmission mechanism for driving said feeding mechanism at thewill of the operator at various positions on said reciprocating table. I

25. In a slicing machine, a base, a table mounted to reciprocate on saidbase, mechanism carried by said table for feeding material thereonrelative thereto, driving mechanism mounted on said base, and means fortransmitting motion from said driving mechanism to the feeding mechanismon said reciprocating table, said means comprising a frame composed ofpivoted links,

and means for transmitting power supported by said frame.

26. In a slicing machine, a base, a recip- 5 rocating table mounted onsaid base, power mechanism carried by said base, and means fortransmitting power from said power mechanism to said reciprocatingtable, comprising a flexible frame and sprocket mechanism carried bysaid frame.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on thistenth day of July, A. D. 1917.

. CORNELIS F. M. VAN BERKEL.

